Present: Bella, Bro Anthony(Bursar), Bro Owen, Dave, Mark, Sanjit
Apologies: John Lux, Nick, Nola

Mark read the recent letter sent from LAMB to the District Council.

We then toured the premises and discussed our retreat plans.

We discussed our need for a bank account. Our present account with Triodos is not very practical despite being “ethical.” There is no cheque book with Triodos and the account is a saver account designed for balances of £1000+. With more funds likely to be banked in the very near future and Lasallians desperate to set up mandates to support LAMB we need a readily accessible account.

Anthony suggested that LAMB should remain outside the Lasallian Charitable Status for a number of reasons:-

• Charitable Status requires auditing and good accounting which are skills that do not exist within the group
• Our account would have to be included within the audit of the Trust. This could be quite expensive for a small group such as ourselves
• The account would have to be opened by the Trustees and any decision to spend money would have to be in agreement with the aims and directions of the Trustees.
• Lack of independence to move in a direction we choose.
• No need to submit accounts to the Bursar.
• The Trustees can still support us in getting banking arrangements sorted.

However there are disadvantages:-

1. We won’t get Gift Aid (we cannot covenant to LAMB)
2. We will not be covered by the De La Salle Brother’s Insurance when we meet. This will need to be sorted out separately as we are at the moment personally liable.

No decision was made but there was general agreement that being independent (an “Unincorporated Association”) brought advantages. Besides we could be incorporated within the umbrella of the Trust at a later stage, eg, if a Brother’s Community were started in Bristol from LAMB.

It was felt we needed a working bank account with a cheque book and at least two signatories. We need to have a name and a formal structure for the bank to deal with. It was also felt that a savings account was necessary for the future.

Anthony suggested opening a “Nil Balance” Account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. This would have both a Deposit Account and a Current Account. Money could be automatically shifted over from the Deposit Account to the Current Account. All monies paid in would be paid into the Deposit Account. It will require us to keep rudimentary accounts and we will need a Constitution for the bank to know who it is dealing with. Anthony is to investigate looking into the two accounts with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Mark is to write a provisional constitution. We would get statements from the bank each month.

Mark expressed concern that we might not be insured for youth gatherings at 1B. How much would insurance cost and if it is prohibitive might we be better off under the umbrella of the brothers? There is the possibility that we could become a sub- charity of the Trust. Anthony agreed to investigate the cost of insurance for us.

The plan of action from the meeting is as follows

1. Bro Anthony to contact the Royal Bank of Scotland vis-à-vis setting up a bank account for LAMB
2. Anthony to contact insurance people to investigate the cost of insurance cover for LAMB Youth Gathering Days
3. When details of an account are established and agreed upon then Bella is to close the account with Triodos Bank
4. Mark to write a constitution for the purposes of the bank detailing our name, purpose, positions of responsibility within LAMB, what will happen to our funds in the bank if we wish to close down. It was agreed that Mark would be both LAMB Secretary and Coordinator.

A big thank you to Brother Anthony from all at LAMB.